Escaping the Storm
by LunaIsAmazing
Summary: Thalia Longwood's best friends with Lily Evans. Sirius Black's best friends with James Potter. James and Lily have had a turbulent relationship over the years and as Sirius and Thalia are their respective best friends, their relationship has also been turbulent. Well, that's untill a succession of events in 5th year when everything starts changing.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

1st September, 1971

Platform nine and three-quarters was as crowded as it usually was. The new first years eagerly anticipated which house they would be sorted into and whether they would make new friends or not. The seventh years were reminiscing with friends about their first time crossing through the barrier between the muggle and magical world. There was also a sense of dread among them, as they pondered how next year, they would be sent out to face the real world, and deal with the dark forces, which were growing greater and greater.

All of them were surrounded by families eagerly wishing their children off for the start of a new school year; well, that was case for all but, two of them.

A tall boy of eleven years of age with smart black hair and endless grey eyes, was being berated by his parents on the importance of continuing on the Black tradition in Slytherin house, with severe punishment if that did not occur. He did not appear to be listening to his parents rambling on about their pureblood ideology, and instead, he had a dreamy look on his face, fantasizing about the next ten months spent away from his overbearing parents.

Unlike the boy with his sleek black hair, who was surrounded stifling adults, a girl stood unaccompanied at the edge of the platform. She had rich chocolate curls paired with a pair of magical green eyes, that took in the Hogwarts Express with a sense of excitement and nervousness. Her Father was dead, and her Mother was 'too busy' to see her only child off. But that's how life has always been for Thalia Longwood. She simply had to look after herself.

Sirius Black searched anxiously among the sea of people, hoping to find someone to share a compartment with. He hoped dearly he would not have to spend his first train journey sitting all by himself.

His eyes fell upon a boy who looked remarkably similar to himself, except the boy's hair seemed to be out of control and darted out in all directions. This greatly annoyed his Mother, who appeared to be trying to control the flyaway hair. His Father stood proudly by.

The boy seemed eager to leave the grasps of his Mother and Father, maybe as they were older than the rest, pondered Sirius as he took in their lined faces and flecks of grey in their hair. Sirius liked the look of this boy and hoped that prehaps they could be friends if the boy with the flyaway hair was prepared to be friends with a 'Black'.

Thalia searched the crowd of people, hoping to see a friendly face who wouldn't mind spending the train journey with her. Her eyes locked in on a girl with long striking auburn hair and exotic almond-shaped emerald eyes.

"She has the same colour eyes as me," thought Thalia, excitedly. "That must be a sign!"

The pretty girl pleaded with the horse faced girl next to her, who was ignoring her. Thalia hoped perhaps they could find solace in each other, since both of them seemed to be ignored by their families.

Though both Sirius and Thalia didn't have their families calming them before entering their first year of Hogwarts, neither were nervous. Both were excited and full of anticipation of finally escaping their families and the eternal storm of their homes.


	2. A New Year

**1st September, 1976 **

**Thalia**

I carefully wove myself through the crowds of people who had congregated around Platform nine and three quarters, despite the fact this was the fifth year of being on the platform on the first of September, it was still the same. It was so good to be back in a place where I felt like I belonged, instead of whiling away the summer at my Mother's townhouse, wondering when she would return from her date with the latest toy boy.

With a pang in my heart, I was reminded of my Father. He was an auror you know, one of the best. That's how he died, risking himself to save others, like any noble Gryffindor should. Well, apart from me, that is. I didn't particularly feel bold or courageous yet; I ended up in the house where those traits are practically ingrained into your DNA.

I was so busy wrapped up in my thoughts that I failed to see two boys with wild black hair running towards me. They looked like they'd been racing each other to see whose trolley could get to the train fastest. "OW!" All three of us collided and formed a bundle of bodies and luggage on the floor. I raised my head so I could see who the culprits of the crime are, but I already had a sinking feeling in my stomach about who they were.

Sirius Black and James Potter of course. I mean, who else would it be?

I've always had a dislike for the pair of them. James Potter had been following my best friend, Lily Evans, around like a little lost puppy since first year. A week didn't pass by without him asking her out. You know what they say about fiery redheads you can probably picture Lily's reaction to his ever frequent requests now.

Sirius Black, Potter's ever loyal sidekick, was no better. While trying to help James in gaining his conquest, Black's assistance seems to end up hindering the situation rather than helping it. Last year he tied them together with magical handcuffs for a day.

Those two could be mistaken for twins; both were exceedingly tall, had dark hair and were very good-looking, though Black was slightly better looking than Potter.

I had somehow managed to land directly on top of Black to my utmost horror. I wouldn't have been the first girl to be in that position if the rumours were true. All the girls in the school idolised those two, and they were constantly chasing after both. My face turned beetroot red with realization of what it must look like to the onlookers, and quickly pulled myself up from the ground.

"Why so quick to get away Longwood? Am I really that horrific?" Sirius asked with his typical smirk on his face.

"No, not on the contrary, I just don't want to be associated with those dim-witted blondes you usually socialise with," I retorted. Not wanting to have a full-blown argument before even reaching the train, I turned my back to him and stormed off in search for my friends.

After searching the whole train, carefully making sure I wasn't noticed by the Marauders when I walked past their compartment, I found my friends at the very end of the train who all seemed to be peering over the same copy of a muggle magazine. All of them so different but I loved them all equally.

This is where we first became friends, on the Hogwarts Express, Lily and me. She was upset, because her sister couldn't accept that she was a witch, and I was upset about my Mother not being there. I guess we had a thing in common, and from then on, she's had to put up with me.

I wrenched open the door to the compartment and collapsed into the seat nearest to it, still wound up about my incident with Sirius earlier.

"You took your time," Lily said, looking up from the magazine. "I have to go to my prefect meeting soon." Then she saw my face, which must have still been red. "What made you angry already? You haven't got into any fights yet, have you? I don't want you to be the first person I have to give a detention to!"

"Well, if you guys hadn't chosen the furthest compartment from the barrier I may have gotten here earlier. And don't remind me, it was just Black and Potter up to their usual antics of pretending to be five year olds. Don't worry Lily, I stormed off to look for you guys before it became violent!" I replied.

"Thank Merlin for that. I'll be off now I don't have to imagine you missing the train as you threw Black under it. I have to go to the prefects meeting so don't have too much fun without me." Lily said whilst walking out the door.

It was no surprise to anyone, that she was the new prefect. She was always top of the year in everything, never got into trouble, and always so kind and friendly to everyone. Perfect prefect material.

"Wait! Who's the Gryffindor prefect for the boys?" I called out, but Lily was already too far away to reply.

"Remus of course," Mary said to me, grinning. "Do you think Dumbledore would have really picked one of the other three? Potter and Black play too many pranks and spend half their life in detention and Pettigrew is too insipid and just follows the other three around kissing the ground behind them. Imagine if he was prefect the first years would run riot!"

Mary was our resident Scot. Technically she was half-Italian thanks to her Mum, but Mary considered herself Scottish, and was very proud of it. She didn't sound Italian at all, and the only way you could tell, was due to her colouring.

"Oh yeah, of course it'd be Remus. It's just a shame he'll be spending less time in the common room this year due to all the patrols he'll have to do." I reply, directing the last part towards Maia. She'd secretly liked him since the end of last year and, had now begun to turn a similar shade of red I'd been after landing on top of Sirius.

"I thought we agreed you couldn't tease me about it too much?" Maia asked, with a pleading look upon her face.

Maia was always the one the boys wanted, thanks to her being half Brazilian, and having amazing looks as a result of it. Remus, however, had done a fine job of ignoring her, despite her beauty. Though they were sort of friends, and seemed to get along well, we could all tell that she hoped that there would be something more

"Fine, but it's just so much fun to do!" I said.

I felt sorry for Remus. It was a shame he was ill all of the time. He was the only Marauder who was friendly and capable of a somewhat normal conversation. I really did hope that he and Maia got together this year.

The only downfall to that would be that the Marauders would be around us more and I wasn't sure if I could cope with that.

What was that you guys were all looking at then, before I came in?" I asked trying to change the subject and give Maia a break.

"Oh, it's just this article about this new actor. Lily thought he was cute. I mean, just look at him!" Mary said, sounding outraged someone could like him. I just laughed back, eager not to provoke an annoyed Mary.

"You know Lily's taste in guys is always a bit weird, she's friends with Snape after all! How was your summer then, Mary?" I asked, as I knew she had been worried about being out of Hogwarts security, due to her being a half-blood.

"It was fine. After we all met up at Alice's, Dad dragged us off to go and visit Uncle Magnus in Dundee, and I had to listen to how unfair it was that the ban on Creaothceann, wasn't lifted. Mum is getting really worried about the blood supremacy stuff, as she's a muggleborn, so she whisked us off to Rimini to visit Nonna. Of course I got fattened up, and I don't know how I'll be able to play quidditch now." Mary replied.

"Sounds like you had a better holiday than me," Alice chirped up. "Mum and Dad were at work most of the time, so I had to look after Tom. I'll tell you it was possibly the most boring holiday I've ever had. Yours sounded so much more interesting in comparison, so feel for me," Alice put on a convincing pount to prove her point.

It was funny to see Alice being the one who was asking for sympathy, as she was usually the one who gave it out liberally. I love Alice, with her cropped hair and adorable personality. She reminded me of a pixie. She was just always there for everyone.

"Yes, I know how it feels to be stuck in a house all day long, and it's certainly not fun at all! Don't complain Mary, your holiday sounded great," I replied, but I knew it would be a lost cause, as Mary was prone to exaggeration at times.

"At least you don't have to fear being killed if you stepped outside the house, and have to listen to my Mum's shrieks whenever I do so!" Mary burst out. Of course she would try to make a joke out of a gang of pureblood supremacists, hunting down people like her.

"True. At least I don't have to deal with that," I agreed, and pulled my book out of my bag, knowing it would help diffuse Mary's anger if I read instead.

One thing I was certainly sure of: between the potential romance and the threat of the Death Eaters, this was bound to be an interesting year.


	3. Planning Pranks

**Sirius**

The train ride wasn't the same without Remus there. Of course he got the prefect's badge; James and I spent most of our lives in detentions, or plotting what our next prank would be.

Peter was nowhere near prefect material either, as he was too forgetful, so him being a prefect would be a nightmare, but he was a good friend. He's always stuck by all of us, especially with what we've nearly perfected this summer to help Remus' 'furry little problem', as James likes to put it.

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade, we were among the last to disembark. James, Peter and I waited for Remus, to finish patrolling the train, so we could update him on our plans for our prank of the year. Tomorrow's breakfast had better be a good one, since I had spent at least two galleons in Zonkos for everything we needed. Even though we'd been over it enough times, Peter looked ready to faint like a girl.

"All you have to do, Peter, is get the house elves to put the potion in all the Slytherin drinks and then wait for the results, which should be pretty spectacular," I reminded him. I laughed internally, imagining the Slytherin's sour faces in reaction to it.

"Alright, but what if I get caught?" Peter asked, looking frightened for his life at the thought of a detention; I sometimes wondered why he got so scared, considering James and I were the joint kings of detention. Nothing too bad had happened to us. If anything, we enjoyed holding the title, as we considered it a reward for all our good work.

"That's what we've got dear old Remus for, isn't it? He's a prefect, so he's bound to be able to get you out of trouble," James replied with a smile.

"James I'm not really sure I'm meant to be abusing my position on the first night," Remus said out of nowhere, his sudden appearance startling us. He looked slightly worried at the implications we were throwing around.

"Relax," James said, patting Remus on the back." That's why Dumbledore probably made you one, so our detention record will go do."

"Where did you come from, anyway?" I added. "I thought you'd still be helping the first years off the train."

"Sirius, I've ben standing here for the past five minutes. Honestly, you need to pay more attention." Remus sounded rather annoyed. "Besides, I don't think Dumbledore will appreciate me abusing my badge." By the looks of it, he was taking his role as a prefect very seriously.

"Oh sorry, Moony," I replied jovially, hoping to brighten his mood. If he didn't lighten up soon, he would sink into depression.

My eyes scanned the platform, and I was surprised to find it completely deserted, and the lamps on it, had begun to flicker. I knew we should make a move soon, and I glanced over to the carriages and due to our idle dawdling, there was only one left.

"Quick guys, it's the last carriage, and I don't fancy walking all the way to Hogwarts on an empty stomach," I said anxiously. Food was a very serious matter to me.

The other boys must have also realised what a precarious situation we were in. We all grabbed our bags and legged it towards the carriage, nearly colliding with two girls who were already climbing in.

"Potter, for once in your life could you please stop acting like a little child? A three year old would be more mature than you," spat out a voice who abused James on a regular basis.

"Hello Evans. How was your summer? You never replied to any of my letter!" James replied, sounding rather upset about that fact.

"Well, if you honestly think I had the time to reply to approximately five letter a day, you're deluded," Lily Evans retorted. "Besides, there wasn't anything to reply to. All that your letters contained was mindless drivel.

Oh Merlin, I thought to myself. James had been talking about how much he missed Lily over the summer for the entire train journey. He seemed to think if he sent a letter to her every day, he might be able to prove that he was actually serious about her and it wasn't a joke. I don't think it worked.

Not wanting to stand in the drizzly rain and listen to James and Evans argue for any longer, I climbed into the carriage.

I was greeted by an angry looking Thalia Longwood. Thalia and I had never really got on that well, considering we were both the respective best friends of Lily and James.

The fact James and I crashed into her this morning while racing to the train, probably didn't help much either.

"Black," she said with a curt nod.

"Longwood. Sorry about earlier, by the way." There. I had that off my conscience now.

"Don't worry. I didn't expect anything less from you. I see you've just exchanged the same courtesy to Lily now, anyway." I could tell she was still bitter about what had happened.

She was angry with me for helping James in his efforts of gaining Lily, and I was annoyed with her for not persuading Lily that James was actually serious about wanting to go out with her.

I never really had much to do with her other than that. It wasn't that I didn't like her. She could be quite funny when she's forgotten it's me she's talking to. It's just that I never really got to know her. Our groups of friends never had much to do with one another.

"Anyway, why aren't you two with the other?" I thought you girls were inseparable?" I asked in an attempt to continue the conversation. It was a better alternative to sitting in silence and listening to James and Lily finish their shouting match.

"Well, I was looking after Lily's cat," she said, indicating to the ball of grey fluff nestled in the furthest corner of the carriage. It was almost as if it was avoiding her. "Then Lily came back, and Calliope tried to run to her, but got lost in the process of doing that. So Lily and I just spent the past twenty minutes trying to find her in the darkness. The others decided to wait, as the rain had already started. Not that I blame them, to be honest. I'd much rather be warm and dry than be stuck in a carriage with the devil cat. And you," she snickered.

"Hey, I thought I'd apologized already for that…" I was cut off midway due to the commotion James, Remus, Peter and Lily were causing while trying to climb into the carriage, all pushing and shoving in an attempt to be the first one in.

Lily succeeded first, probably due to James pushing her forwards, hoping that this will try and help him recover from his faux-pas earlier. I don't think it worked as the girls didn't seem to want to chat. We all spent the remainder of the journey sitting in a stony silence. Anytime one of us tried to speak, the girls responded with looks of annoyance. I finally resorted to tapping my fingers on the window.

As soon as we arrived at Hogwarts, Thalia and Lily practically ran out of the carriage in a bid to flee us. Wow, were we really that bad?

I had forgotten all about argument by the time I approached the doors to the Great Hall. The thought of food had taken over my mind completely. However, we were so late that the first years and McGonagall were already lining up outside it.

McGonagall was looking as stern as usual, and had a grim expression on her face, when she noticed our arrival. I would have thought a holiday would have cheered you up, I guess it wasn't the case for her.

"Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew. What is the meaning of this? You've just set a terrible example for the first years! You think it's acceptable to turn up whenever you want? Mr Lupin, I expected better from you. Considering you're now a prefect, we thought you would exert some of your more responsible influences onto your friends,." McGonagall said, finally finishing her rant. Oh, I've missed you, Minnie.

"Sorry, Minnie. We just missed you so much over the summer, and wanted to have a quick catch up before our next Transfiguration lesson." I earned a thumbs up from James and Peter, and an annoyed look from Remus. That guy really needs to lighten up.

Remus cleared his throat. "What we mean to say Professor, is that James lost his school robes on the train. We were helping him look for them, as we knew you wouldn't appreciate him turning up in muggle attire. This took a long time, and that's the reason we were delayed. We really are sorry," Remus said, trying to not get into trouble for not performing his prefect duties on the first day.

"Thank you, Mr Lupin. I see I don't have to lose faith in you yet." McGonagall turned her eyes to the rest of us. "Your friends, to my great dismay, haven't changed their ways over the summer. Now get into the hall right away, unless you want to receive detentions for the entire first week," she said, ending the conversation.

We knew McGonagall meant what she said, so we hurried into the hall. I mean we tried to avoid detentions in the first week back; we did at least have some standards.

The sorting took forever, as usual. I don't see why they couldn't do it after we've eaten, as no one really cares about who gets into which house. Well, apart from when I was sorted. I can still vividly recall the awkward silence after the sorting hat pronounced I was in Gryffindor. Those looks my cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix sent me could have killed.

At least Andromeda was still nice to me that year. But, then again, she'd been in her seventh year and had begun dating Ted Tonks, who was a muggleborn. When her parents found out, there was a family crisis, which resulted in her running away and eloping with him. Sometimes I think about running away as well. Andromeda seems so much happier, now that she's away from the poisonous Black family.

I only paid attention to the last person, who was a timid looking girl. Once "Yew, Ella," had been sorted into Ravenclaw, it was finally time to eat. The best part of the evening, frankly .

I immediately filled my plate with mashed and roasted potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, sausages, bacon, salmon fillets, chicken legs and carrots (I had to be healthy!), followed by servings of treacle tart and sticky toffee pudding for desert.

Once I was fit to the burst , it was time for Dumbledore's speech. It was the usual tedious talk of not going into the Forbidden Forest, not bringing in any of the objects on Filch's list and no magic in corridors. For some funny reason, Dumbledore was looking at me and James in particular while mentioning all of these things. Honestly, who does he think we are? We're probably the most rule-abiding students out of anyone, well in the first week back at least.

We all stumbled up the many stairs to the Gryffindor tower after the feat, I personally felt as if I could never eat for another decade! We were too full to talk properly, and the only think I managed to mutter, was promising that I would never, ever eat so much again.

As soon as we entered our dormitory, I collapsed onto my bed. I didn't bother to unpack as I knew it would be futile, as I was too tired, and full up to do it. Instead, I let my mind drift in and out of consciousness. It was good to be home, I thought, while listening to the murmurs of the three other boys, as they unpacked their trunks.


	4. My Knight in Shining Armour

******Thalia**

Even though I'd been away from school for two months, it was easy to slip back into the school-day routine. I rose early on the first day back, like I usually did, too excited to find out which lessons I had that day, and just glad to be back to a place where I was happy and felt like I belonged. The other girls, especially Mary, seemed to think I was strange wanting to get up early. But none of them understood the tranquillity of having the common room all to yourself for once, and just enjoying the surroundings.

I showered and dressed quickly, eager to get to the common room, as I had starting reading muggle classics over the summer, and I wanted to finish the current one I was reading, Wuthering Heights. I had just got to the bit where Cathy is being forced by the evil Heathcliff to marry his son, Linton, and I wanted to see whether the marriage went ahead or not.

I was so immersed in my thoughts of what was going to happen next I failed to notice that there was another early riser in the common room.

"Thalia! What are you doing down here so early? It's at least another hour until breakfast starts." A voice sounded making me jump in fright.

I turned to the voice wondering who it belonged to as I recognised it; when I saw who my face broke into a wide smile.

"Oh hi Remus. Yeah I know, I'm up early. I just wanted to enjoy the calm of the common room so I could try and finish my book off," I said showing him the book as evidence.

"Ah, Wuthering Heights, I didn't know you were into muggle books?" replied Remus.

"Yes, I know, it is strange, considering, I'm a pureblood, but when you live with someone like my mother it's nice to be able to escape into a world which is completely different to your own," I explained.

It was just a few days after I had returned from Hogwarts for the summer holidays and I had barely seen my Mother since she picked me up from Kings Cross. So I had taken to exploring muggle London due to a lack of nothing better to do, and one day I came across an old second-hand bookshop near Charing Cross Road. The owner was a nice old woman called Beatrice, and she always happy to recommend the next book I should read, or discuss the plot in the one I just finished.

"Ha! That's just like Sirius. He hates living with his family, so he escapes into the muggle world to annoy them. Now and then, he reads muggle books and magazines and dates muggle girls," Remus said, laughing.

"I never thought Black would have had the attention span to read an entire book, as he never pays attention. I mean he and James end up playing hangman in the books if we're told to read them during class." I thought back to all the arguments those two have had with our professors, with them pleading that hangman was just as educational as actually reading the book.

"Sirius seems to think that he's so intelligent that reading the actual textbook is unnecessary. If you ask him about any muggle book however, he's probably read it. Don't tell anyone, but there's a muggle book section in the library. Sirius likes the books so much that he even reads them at school, even though his parents aren't here for him to provoke" Remus smirked.

"I never thought I'd hear someone say Black read books for his own enjoyment. Maybe he did actually mature slightly over the summer," I laughed.

Sensing the conversation was over, I went to my favourite armchair by the fireplace, so I could enjoy the dying embers of the fire whilst reading.

I had managed to read a significant chunk of the book before my friends appeared, looking not quite as excited as I was for the first day back. Well, Lily was looking as excited as I was feeling, but then again, all prefects seem to love the thought of school and learning. That's probably why they're picked to be one.

"Ready to go, then?" Maia asked. She cast her eyes over at Remus, who was sitting in the armchair opposite me, deeply immersed in his book.

"Yeah, of course. I've been down here for at least an hour, so let's go," I said, eager to get some breakfast, as my stomach had started to emit embarrassing rumbles.

We made our way out of the portrait hole and down the many staircases leading to the Great Hall, still catching up about our summer holidays. Even though we had all met up two weeks previously at Alice's house, we hadn't run out of things to talk about. I always loved going to Alice's house, as she lives in St. Ives right by the coast. It was nice escaping to the sea, as I was used to the grimy streets of London.

We were still among the first people at breakfast today. The Gryffindor table was nearly empty, bar a pair of timid looking first years who atein silence. They were probably not well acquainted enough to be able to have a conversation.

Other than them there was the keeper and captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, George Wood, who was a seventh-year. We were on speaking terms with him due to Mary being a chaser. He looked rather lonely sitting by himself, so we decided to keep him company. George was always up for laugh and whenever you saw him, he had a smile planted on his face. He was also one of the other few boys in the school who you could actual have a normal conversation with e.g. not one where they're acting like five year olds, or attempting to flirt with you.

"Hi, George. How was your summer?" I slid into a seat opposite him.

"Really good," George said. "My parents took me to the Quidditch world cup in Egypt this year. It was surreal seeing quidditch being played next to the Pyramids of Giza!"

"It was shame about Scotland though," Mary cut in. "Shocking play! I couldn't count how many times the snitch was in front of MacFarlane's face, yet he didn't see it. Damn those Frenchmen, beating us again!" Mary was still sulking, clearly she still hadn't gotten over her home country's defeat.

"How did England do?" asked Alice, who seemed to be trying to show an interest in quidditch for our sake. We all knew she hated it, due to memorable flying lessons in first year, which resulted in her repeatedly falling off her broom.

"They fared slightly better," George answered. "They got to the quarter-final but were beaten by Oman in that match. It must have been really embarassing. Most of the team uses, flying carpets instead of broomsticks, so we should have had the advantage."

We continued the rest of breakfast debating whether the Irish could remain the champions of the Quidditch World Cup next time around, or whether the Japanese would be able to beat them. Once the hall was practically full, Professor McGonagall descended the steps from the staff table so she could hand out our timetables.

"Evans, there's yours. Here you go McDonald, and aha here we are, Longwood."

Just as McGonagall handed me my timetable, there were several outcries of shock from the other side of the room. The room was too crowded to get a clear of view of what was going on, so I stood up to see what this commotion was.

The entire Slytherin table seemed to have sprouted warts and spots all over their faces. It, did not make them look very attractive, to say the least. The rest of room ruptured into peals of laughter at the Slytherins misfortune. I swear I could also see Dumbledore chuckling away quietly. McGonagall, however, did not find the incident nearly as amusing as the headmaster did.

"Potter, Black, detention for the rest of the week! No, don't deny it wasn't you. I could tell you were up to something last night. Lupin, I expect you to keep a tighter rein on your friends next time, as the behaviour which these two are displaying currently is unacceptable." McGonagall said dismissing their pleas that there was no evidence it was them who did this; therefore, it would be highly unjust to make them serve detentions for it.

Not wanting to be late for my first lesson, I ignored the noise from the Slytherin table and McGonagall, and quickly cast my eyes down today's column on my timetable to see what lessons I had. I let out a groan – today was not going to be fun.

First was double Potions with the Slytherins. I enjoyed Potions as it was easy to get right if you just followed the steps, and, I liked the logic behind it. Professor Slughorn was alright as well. I was a member of his Slug Club, along with James and Sirius due to our parent's immense wealth and good connections. Being in the Slug Club was quite good as Lily was in it as well due to her wit and intelligence. Because of her wit and intelligence Lily was in the club as well.

I didn't tend to go to many of the dinners, as there were rather dull in my opinion. Lily spent quite a bit of the time with Snape, so unless I wanted to hang out with James and Sirius, I would be on my own.

Being a pure blooded Gryffindor, I was tolerated by the Slytherins and they generally left me out of their bullying ways. However, I hated their comments to the muggleborns like Lily. Lily was lucky though. When her creepy childhood friend Snape was around, the rest of the Slytherins tended not to say too much. Lily sitting next to him probably helped. Slughorn absolutely loved those two, as they were both brilliant at potions. Slughorn spent most of the lesson fawning over them.

Potions was followed by Transfiguration, which was hard work for those of us who weren't as naturally talented as James and Sirius. McGonagall was practically the only head of house who didn't favour her own, so we nearly always ended up with a massive essay to write each week.

Then perhaps the dullest subject at school followed – History of Magic was taught by this dreary old ghost called Professor Binns. No one had the staying power to listen to his lectures on the Goblin wars, except for Lily and Remus who seemed to be the only ones who took notes about it. The rest of the guys tended to throw paper aeroplanes around the classroom, and we girls just passed notes to each other.

Finally Arithmancy after lunch, which was about the only lesson of the day I would completely enjoy. The only other Gryffindors who took this class were Lily, Maia and Remus. Lily's reason for taking it was because it was similar to some muggle thing called maths, so for once her parents could vaguely get what she was learning about. I always liked this class due to the mental challenge, and our teacher Professor Montrose was always really nice.

Knowing we had quite a long walk down to the dungeons for Potions we bid George farewell and walked out of the Great Hall while listening to McGonagall still shouting at James and Sirius for the prank they pulled.

Despite leaving the Great Hall later than usual this morning we were still the first ones at the dungeons. Due to the prank the Marauders pulled, they were probably still being shouted at by McGonagall. The Slytherins had probably gone to the hospital wing to see if Madam Pomfrey would be able to remove the warts and spots.

Knowing Slughorn was rather lenient on school rules we just walked in and took our usual seats. Lily at the front where she always sat with Snape, so Slughorn could talk to them all lesson. Then Maia and I, and Alice and Mary sat on tables next to each other at the back so we could talk. This was kind of pointless as there were always loud noises, usually due to someone's potion exploding so it was easy to talk and not get caught anyway.

Fifteen minutes or so later the rest of the class trooped in wart and spot free. Potions went unbearably slowly today due to Slughorn giving us a lecture on the importance of us doing well this year as it was our OWL year, and we needed to achieve an E or higher if we wished to continue the subject. Like we didn't know that already.

Once he was finally done we spent the remainder of the lesson attempting to make a forgetfulness potion.

Maia and I actually succeeded in making the potion, without any mishaps, though it was more of a lime green, instead of the pale it was meant to be. Either way we fared slightly better than Mary and Alice, as we when we were making our potion, we could hear shrieks of, "Don't put that in the potion," and "It's meant to be turned to counter-clockwise seven times, not clockwise four times!".

Given all the commotion they caused when making their potion, it was no surprise that their potion ended up a very vivid pink, and emitting silver sparks. Though it looked nice, when they handed in their phial to Professor Slughorn, he just gave them a dismissive look, before shooing them away.

As there was still summery weather we decided to spend our break sitting in the grounds and enjoying the sunshine. Knowing that as we were in Scotland it would probably disappear soon and rain and grey clouds would take its place.

"This is the life," Mary said, while kicking off her shoes, and lying down in the grass.

"We've barely been back for a day, and you're already complaining Mary?" Lily asked her.

"Can you blame me? After that horrific Potions lesson, I need another holiday. It's alright for you. You're amazing at Potions, and you sit next to Snivellus, who's an even bigger nerd at it than you," Mary replied jokily.

"What have I said about not calling Severus, Snivellus? It's bad enough he gets called it by Potter. He doesn't need it from you too!" Lily shot back. "Besides I'm not a Potions nerd. I just enjoy the subject, so I listen. That's something not very familiar to you Mary," Lily stuck her tongue out at Mary, to let her know that she was only joking about the last part.

"Whatever Lils, you're a Potions nerd, don't deny it!" Mary lay back down in the grass, giving up on the argument.

Maia, Alice and I, had remained silent throughout their disagreement. Lily and Mary were prone to arguing over how much time should be spent on school work, so we tended not to interfere.  
Twenty minutes later, I had finished my daisy chain and, Alice, who was always checking her watch, announced it was time for the next lesson.

Reluctantly, we headed back inside for Transfiguration. McGonagall spent the beginning of the lesson talking about how important this year was, which was almost the same speech we'd gotten in Potions. Then she went on about how Transfiguration was very important for our magical education, and therefore we must get a high grade if we wanted to succeed in life. After that, we had to turn a dinner plate into a mushroom. Lily and I had fun trying to see who could make the one, if a mushroom could be pretty, that is.

The next lesson was nowhere near as enjoyable. Professor Binns saved us the lecture on this being our OWL year, but that might have been because he'd mixed up the classes. He greeted Alice by her brother Tom's name, who's a third year now. She wasn't too pleased about being compared to someone who used to eat frogspawn.

Binns waited for us to be seated and just started lecturing. It sounded exactly like something we'd already heard, and I wondered if he was using the same notes from last year. Peter appeared to be already sleeping at his desk and James and Sirius were trying to build an old spitfire out of paper.

I guess the boys weren't as bad as Mary, who started painting her nails the same shade of pink her potion was earlier. I could see Lily's point on Mary's lack of listening skills. At least I try to pay attention for the first lesson.

Finally it was lunch. I walked quickly out of the door eager to escape the boredom you felt just being in the classroom, when I suddenly tripped over some spilt ink on the floor. Luckily someone managed to catch me as I felt myself fall into someone's arms.

It feels nice here, I thought.

No naughty Thalia, you don't even know who it is. The other side of my brain had kicked in, and I could vaguely hear the battle in my head continuing while I was coming back to the real world.

I turned around to thank my rescuer, and I immediately turned bright red when I saw who it was. I never would have thought it would be nice being held by him.

"Thanks, Black," I said with a smile, deciding to be nice for once, as he me a favour. "You saved me from looking like an idiot."

"No problem, Longwood. Anything to save a pretty lady," he said with his trademark smirk.

Wait a second; did Sirius Black just compliment me? No, it could'nt be. Since when did he do or say anything nice? He's probably just up to his usual flirting ways. But what was I supposed to do now? Do I go along with it? I realised that I'd been standing there, staring at him blankly. Yeah, it's the safest thing to do. It's so annoying when my brain goes into overdrive.

"Well, I guess you're my knight in shining armour then," I said, while attempting to copy his smirk.

"I guess you could say that I am. What does my fair lady require me to do now?" he replied, seeming to play along with the joke.

We continued walking down together, as due to me nearly falling, we had been left behind by our friends. I actually had a nice time with Sirius for once, without him being annoying or flirting with me. It turned out that he could actually be quite a decent person. When we got to the Great Hall, we seperated to our respective groups of friends.

"How come you're so happy after a History of Magic lesson?" questioned Mary, as I slid into the seat next to her, still smiling

"Oh, no reason. Could you pass the shepherd's pie?" I didn't want them to make assumptions about Black and me. I glanced over at the group of boys and couldn't help but notice that Black was staring at me.


	5. A Matter of Immense Confusion

******Thalia**

The first few weeks of school flew right past me; it was always like that with the initial happiness of being back at school, before the same old drudgery set in.

On the last Saturday of September, the grounds of Hogwarts had turned into a beautiful patchwork quilt of brown, red and orange. Lily, Maia, Alice and I found ourselves picking our way through the autumn leaves to the pitch.

Quidditch trials started today, and despite the fact Mary had been on the team since third year, she still wanted us around for moral support.

We had finally made our way up into the stands, where we found another group of spectators –Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Of course they were there to support James as well. Not that he needed the moral support. It was hinted James was the best chaser that Hogwarts had seen in the last fifty years. Sirius and Peter seemed to recognise that, as they cheered loudly and fist pumped whenever he scored a goal. This was to Remus' embarrassment, as he appeared to be trying to distance himself from his friends when they did that.

Lily and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement. She took a deep breath and put on her friendliest expression. "Hi Remus," Lily greeted him cheerfully, settling into the same row as the boys. "Pettigrew. Black," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the others as a form of recognition.

"Hello, Evans. I didn't expect to see you out here. Is it because you finally want to profess your undying love for Potter?" Sirius joked.

"Of course not. We're here to give our moral support to Mary!" Lily replied haughtily, and promptly decided took the furthest seat away from him next to Peter.

We'd all agreed to help Maia in her bid to gain Remus' affection, even if it meant bearing the annoyance of being around the rest of them. To be fair, Lily and I had come up with the idea. Alice was quite content with anything we did, as she had her eye on the sixth year beater, Frank Longbottom, and was just happy to spend some time in his proximity.

Maia carefully slipped in next to Remus and struck up a conversation with him about the latest Transfiguration homework, so it meant the only seat free was between Alice and Sirius. Great. Alice would be too caught up in ogling Frank, meaning I would be left with only Sirius for a companion.

Even though seemed to have gotten over our former enmity since the incident of me falling into his arms, there was still this awkward tension between us.

"You're not going to lose your footing up here, are you?" Sirius joked. "I doubt I'd be able to run down the stairs quick enough to catch you," Sirius joked.

"Haha, very funny Sirius. I thought from your name you wouldn't have been much of the joking type," I quipped back, quite pleased I had been able to make a reasonable comeback with a pun included into it.

"I would say good one, but James already used that pun on me in second year. I'm afraid you'll have to find a new one," Sirius smirked.

"Well, if I have to compete against James, I'll have no chance of winning. You two always come first in everything," I complained.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm sorry I'm so amazing!" He replied. "Anyway, I don't come first in everything. Lily and Snivellus beat me in potions, and I know for a fact that you beat me by a whole two per cent in the Muggle Studies exam last year. I don't mind you and Lily too much, it's just the thought of a Slytherin actually beating you is the depressing thing."

"Hey, I heard that, Black. You're staying on my hate list even longer for that insult about Severus." We both turned to see Lily giving Sirius her evil glare, and she continued. "I really don't really understand why you guys hate him so much; he's a perfectly nice guy and he actually has manners, unlike you and Potter." Lily's voice piped up angrily behind us.

Poor Sirius. I'd only been on the receiving end of that glare once in fourth year, when I spilt green nail varnish over Lily's copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade Four. Trust me, it wasn't pleasant.

But hey, I guess Sirius was used to it, given that he was best friends with the person who received that look the most.

Lily's outburst in defence of Snape, jilted the conversation that Sirius and I had going. Not knowing what to say to continue it, I turned to face Alice and struck up a conversation with her about how well Frank was flying today. Sirius also seemed to have sensed that the conversation had come to an end, and joined in with Maia and Remus's conversation about the Transfiguration homework, despite the fact he usually abhorred things like that.

Several windswept hours later, the newest Gryffindor quidditch had been formed. George had picked fourth year, Arianna Bloom, to join Mary and James in playing chaser, third year, Anthony Johnson, to be the new seeker, and Ben Harper, a fellow seventh year to join Frank in playing beater.

I murmured to Alice that I was going down to talk to George, but she seemed to have gone into a state of hypnosis due to the fact that Frank was a mere hundred metres away, and didn't seem to hear a word I was saying. The others would have enough common sense between them to figure out where I had gone, especially since George had been waving to me while keeping as well. I got up out of my seat, glad that I could finally stretch my muscles after being sedentary for three hours.

"Hey, where are you going?" I turned, and saw that it was only Lily.

"Oh, just to congratulate George on the new team. Do you want to come too?" I asked, already knowing her reply.

"Ha. I think I'll pass. Potter will interpret me being there in the wrong way no doubt. You go and have fun," she said with a wink. Wait, what was the wink for?

"What was that wink for?" I heard Black's voice repeat my exact thought. That was odd. I didn't realise that he'd been paying attention to my departure.

"Oh, no reason, Black, you'll probably know in a couple of weeks," Lily replied with an extremely smug expression on her face.

"If it's any comfort, I didn't know what that wink was about either," Peter said.

"Yeah, but Pete, one major difference here – you never know what's happening. I, on the other hand, have a very inquisitive mind and must know the reason behind every action," Sirius said mockingly.

"Well I'm going to leave you guys to analyse the meaning behind the wink, while I go congratulate George. I'll see you all at dinner." With that I left.

Despite clambering down the many flights of stairs from the top of the stadium to the pitch, I still managed to catch George, who was struggling to get an angry bludger back into its case.

"Hi George. Great try-outs just then." I said, hoping that I wouldn't scare him, as he hadn't seemed to have noticed me.

"Woah! I didn't see you there, Thalia!" Yep, I had managed to scare him. "Did you enjoy it then? Mary's excellent, so tell her not to worry about getting kicked off of the team. I know she gets like that." Aw, that was nice of him. Especially as Mary got extremely paranoid before every try out. She always worried that there would be some fresh new second year who would be able to fly much better than her and take her spot on the team. It was safe to say that hadn't happened yet.

"Yeah, it was great. I think we have a definite shot of winning the cup this year. The Slytherins have been so unbearable with all of their gloating for the past three years. I think it's time we won," I grimaced, remembering the Slytherin's replaying the moment when their seeker caught the snitch every Potions lesson. Of course Slughorn did nothing to stop it; he was head of Slytherin after all.

"It would be nice to wipe the smug looks off of their faces for once, I have to admit." George grimaced as well; clearly, he also remembered their gloating.

"Well, it was nice talking to you George, but I'd better be heading back to the castle before dinner finishes. A hungry Thalia is not someone you'd want to see," I said jokingly.

"Hey, if you don't mind waiting five more minutes, I can get changed and walk up with you," George replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, don't be too long. I still haven't figured out where the kitchens are, so we can't tempt any of the house elves into giving us some food," I smirked.

"Don't worry, I'll be quick," he replied before running towards the Gryffindor changing rooms.

I had an enjoyable walk up to the castle with George. He told me some hilarious anecdotes about the previous Gryffindor quidditch captain. Percival Estray was such a quidditch fanatic that he used to force the team up at four in the morning and run laps around the lake. I had a feeling the reason behind Gryffindor repeatedly losing their quidditch matches last year was due to the team being so sleep deprived. I can recollect Mary using History of Magic lessons as a time for napping.

When we entered the castle, we both went our separate ways. I went to the Great Hall to catch the remnants of dinner, and George headed off to the tower to clean off the three inch layer of mud which was coating him.

I scanned my eyes down the Gryffindor table and to my luck I found Lily, Maia, Mary and Alice seated at the end closest to the staff table.

I headed towards where they were sat and slid into the seat.

"You took your time. Having fun were we?" Lily asked with a very mischievous look in her eye.

"Yeah, it was nice. George entertained me with stories about Estray," I said directing the last part towards Mary, who had forced us to listen to her rants last year about his crazy quidditch training schedules.

"Eurgh, don't remind me of him. I'm really surprised he wasn't in Slytherin. With all of that evil stored inside of him, he would have made a perfect death eater!" exclaimed Mary.

"Ha, true. Though he must have some good inside of him, because there hasn't been any Gryffindors who have defected to the dark side yet." I turned to Maia and smiled. "On a lighter note I hoped you enjoyed that quality time with Remus, as I was forced to endure three hours next to Black." I pretended to be angry. In truth, I didn't really mind. Like I said before, Maia and Remus really would make a great couple.

"Yes it was really good. Thanks Thalia, It's nice to talk to a boy who doesn't think I'm some dumb blonde and can talk to me on an intellectual level," Maia said while her face was slowly turned a deep red. "What about you Alice? I saw you ogled Frank the whole time?" Maia clearly wanted to deflect the attention she was currently receiving, onto someone else.

"It was nice. I managed to walk back with him as well, and he was telling me how he wanted to be an auror," Alice said, starting to blush as much as Maia had just done.

Lily must have sensed the awkwardness that Maia and Alice were feeling as they talked about the boys. Being the good friend that she was, she asked both of them if they wanted to go and crack a start on the Herbology homework. They both agreed, and the three of them headed out of the Great Hall.

Mary sat stayed while I finished my dinner, patiently making patterns on her plate with the residues of her food.

Once I finished, we both decided to meet up at the tower, since, I wanted to just visit the library first.

As I entered the library, I was greeted by the familiar must smell of old books. I breathed it in enjoying every individual scent in the air. This instantly brought calm all over me. None of the others, bar Lily and Remus, understood my need for this smell to keep me sane. Well, none of them seemed to enjoy reading like the three of us did.

I headed over to the small section that Remus had talked about. I'd finished Wuthering Heights a couple of days ago, and I needed another book to feed my muggle literature addiction while I was at Hogwarts. To my great surprise, I saw the shadow of someone else in that aisle. I didn't realise anyone else read muggle books here. I mean Lily obviously did, being muggle born and all. But she usually read them at home, and preferred to read magical books whenever she could.

Oh, wait. What was Remus saying to me on the first day back at school? Yep. I remember now. Sirius read muggle books as well. But wasn't it only an act of rebellion towards his parents? I'd already had one confrontation with him today, and I really didn't want to instigate another.

Well. It's now or never. I'll just have to go and see who else is seeking solace in the great words of Charles Dickens.

I walked quietly into the aisle and could immediately tell who the person was from their familiar hair, which they liked to push back to get girls attention. That hair belonged to Sirius Black. Why did things always happen like that? I'd hoped that it wouldn't be the person who I really didn't want it to be, and it's them. I would have even preferred it to be a Slytherin. That would have at least been funny - a supposed muggle hater reading muggle books

"Hello, Sirius. What are you doing down here? I'm surprised you have enough concentration power to read a whole book."

"Hey, I'm not just beauty and brawn. I have brains too!"

"Ha, I know. Remus told me about your secret muggle book addiction. I'm surprised it wasn't just a rumour started up to embarrass you." I said.

"Damn, my secret's out. Bloody Remus. I thought I could trust him. He managed to keep it from James at least." Sirius looked very sincere. "You can't tell anyone, Thalia. It would ruin my image. Then the teachers may actually expect me to do some work."

"You know I would never tell on you. I know more than you think," I said, trying to put on a mysterious air, when in fact I was just lying to get at Sirius.

"Really now, Miss Longwood…?" Sirius said while lowering his voice while taking a step towards me.

"Why yes, Mr Black. You would be very much surprised by what I knew," I replied while lowering my voice like him. I found myself taking a step towards him as well. My common sense was telling me not to do this. Putting myself, in a precarious position with Sirius Black was never a good thing.

"Care to tell me any of these 'secrets' about me? I could tell you whether they were fact or fiction." His face was adorned with that trademark smirk. He really was handsome.

Don't worry, I don't like him in that way. I was just noting why so many other girls found him physically attractive.

"Well, just looking into your eyes, I can tell you're not as hard as you make yourself out to be. You can see the sadness swirling around there," I said while being captivated by the endless pools of grey his eyes formed.

"Hmm, I guess that could be considered a fact. The reason for the sadness you'll have to figure out by yourself. I wonder what I can learn from your eyes," he replied, and placed his hands along my jaw bone almost as if he needed to have them there to hold his concentration.

Our eyes connected and it almost felt like we were laying bare our souls to each other. Sirius moved closer and I could feel his breath upon my face. The reflection of my jade green eyes mixing in with the silvery grey of his.

"Oi, Padfoot! Where are you, mate? We need to go and help Moony!"

I ignored the voice shouting in the background, too entrapped by the beauty of Sirius's face. Sirius remained passive as well, and stayed motionless.

"There you are!" James burst around the corner as Sirius and I jumped apart. "Woah, sorry for interrupting. Was something going on here?" he questioned, and clearly trying to hold back his laughter. "Longwood? I never would have expected to have found you two together! Maybe there's hope for me and Lily after all!" James said gleefully, while patting Sirius on the back.

What did he mean by there may be hope for him and Lily? Was he actually serious about her after all? And wait a second; did James assume we were doing something other than just standing here. Because I can assure we were most certainly not. I was admiring his appearance, that was all. Yet it did almost feel for about a second that Sirius was going to kiss me.

"Haha, very funny James. We weren't doing anything," Sirius replied, turning beetroot red very quickly. Wow. It was weird seeing Sirius not the calm and collected self he usually was. Was he possibly more embarrassed than me?

"Are you, sure? Because, that's not what it looked like to me," James replied while laughing at the same time, as he had evidently given up on trying to suppress it.

"Yes we're sure." I told him. "And you'd better not breathe a word of this to anyone Potter, or I'll tell the whole school about that time when you tried to ask that half veela to dance at your parents' Christmas party, and she rejected you," I replied venomously.

My parents used to be friends with the Potters as our fathers were aurors together. Since my Father died, our families drifted apart. My Mother had never been very keen on them, but we still got invited to their annual Christmas party. As this party included the high society my mother liked to associate herself with, we always attended. Therefore, I knew lot secrets about James's home habits. He wouldn't be too pleased if they were spilled to the entire school.

James face turned from amusement to pure shock. Sirius burst out laughing about the fact that the great James Potter had been, in fact, rejected.

"You…you wouldn't, would you?" James stuttered.

"I will if you dare say a word about what you just saw to anyone. Is that clear?" I said, using the sternest tone I could muster.

"Yeah, yeah. Anything, as long as you never mention the veela incident ever again." James replied, looking relieved. He glanced down at his watch, and his face got serious. "Come on, Padfoot. We have to go. It's time. Moony needs us." James said anxiously and swept out of the library.

Sirius still remained in the aisle with a worried expression on his face.

"Don't worry. I wasn't planning on telling anyone about this," I said trying to make him not look so worried.

"No, it's not that. Just don't go outside tonight. Promise me that." He said still with that expression of worry firmly plastered over his face.

"Yeah, sure, I wasn't planning on going out anyway I have an exciting night of Herbology homework planned."

"OK, good. I'd better get going before James gets annoyed. See you around, Thalia," he said, and disappeared behind the many lines of bookshelves.

Too confused about the strange occurrence, I grabbed a random book of the shelf and headed out of the library.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts about what had just happened, that I barely realised I had made it back to the Gryffindor tower. I didn't even know which book I got out of the library. Hmm, the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. This should be a good read.

"Banshee," I said the password to the Fat Lady and climbed through the portrait hole. So much for doing my Herbology homework. I think I'll read this instead.

**Author Note: I'm sorry I said I would update more regularly! Fun fact – the half veela who James got rejected by was in fact Fleur's mother ;) Please review it means so much to mean and makes my day! I also love to know what you think of the story so far. Thanks xxx**


	6. Planning Dates to Hogsmeade

**Sirius**

As I slowly regained consciousness, stabs of pain erupted up and down my entire body. I hadn't anticipated how hard last night was going to be. Despite having a werewolf's power diluted by the strength of a massive dog and stag, Remus was extremely strong and powerful. I dread to think what his transformations were like prior to us being there with him.

Last night was the first time James and I went with Remus to help with his transformation. We had both finally mastered animagi during the summer holidays. Peter was nearly there, and with bit of help from me and James, it would only be a couple more weeks until we could all be together.

Yesterday had been such a strange day. I thought back to, the thing in the library with Thalia, and then helping Moony through full moon. That was the second time this year when Thalia and I had ended up in a very close encounter. I could safely say we definitely weren't enemies. Something like friends, I guess. Or was it more? I don't know, I guess I was in limbo.

I almost kissed her then; luckily James had come along at the right moment. She probably doesn't even like me like that. I don't even like her like that! She is beautiful, though. I hadn't really realised that before yesterday.

I shook my head before remembering the pain. Since when did Sirius Orion Black turn into some romantic fool? That sort of thing is for people like Remus. Even James, look at the way he is about Lily, knowing everything about her: noting any slight change to her. Blacks, after all, are trained from birth to have a stone cold heart. My parents were the perfect example.

I don't agree with practically any of the Black family ideology, but the not accepting love thing had, a lot of benefits. It avoids painful heartbreak, and I've been through enough of that thanks to the delightful upbringing I was forced to endure. I'll have to find something, or someone frivolous to get my mind off her.

What was the name of that Hufflepuff in my Care of Magical Creature's class who I partnered with in third year? We did a project on unicorns together. Well she did it; girls enjoy that sort of soppy stuff more, so I let her write it all. She was blonde and short, I think. Ah that was it. Anna Whitby. She was perfectly nice, reasonably intelligent, and pretty. She would do, I guess. I'll just have to get to know her now.

I lay in bed for another half an hour, waiting for a sign of movement from James or Peter's bed, but there was none. Deciding that one of us had to be the decent friend, and visit Moony in the Hospital Wing, I wrenched myself out of bed ignoring the stabs of pain all over my body.

I clumsily dressed myself, and hobbled down the stairs to the common room. Luckily, it was empty. I didn't want anyone questioning the scratches lining my face. I managed to get through the portrait door before I collided with a mass of auburn hair. I keeled over in pain from the impact of the collision.

"Oh, I'm ever so sorry. I didn't mean to run into….Black what are you doing up so early, it's not even seven yet?" I heard Lily Evans's voice somewhere above of me.

"I could say the same thing to you," I reply curtly, reeling from the pain as I tried to get back on my feet.

"I was just at the owlery, sending my sister a birthday card. Not that she'd appreciate it anyway…." Lily murmured, and appeared to drift off into her own thoughts. "Anyway, why are you covered in scratches? What were you and Potter up to last night?"

"We were strolling around the castle, laying the foundations for our next prank," I said nervously, hoping my lie would work. We were always wandering school when it was dark; we thought it was the ideal time to discover new passageways. And to also sneak into the kitchens and not be caught. The few times we went in the day, we always bumped into Professor Dumbledore.

"Hmm, I suppose that is believable, considering it's been more than a week since there's been a prank from either of you," Lily said, apparently buying my excuse. "I guess I should take you to the Hospital Wing then. I suppose if those scratches left a scar on your face, you wouldn't be too pleased?"

Considering Lily was being vaguely civil towards me for once, I thought it would be best to accept her offer, and we set off for the Hospital Wing in silence. We were probably too surprised we had managed to conduct an ordinary conversation with each other.

We were just rounding the corner to the Hospital Wing doors, when I remembered my original purpose: to visit Remus. Lily was definitely smart, so I wouldn't be surprised if she put two and two together about Remus' condition when she saw him completely covered in bruising and scratches. I had to get rid of her.

"Lily dearest, don't you think it's rather unnecessary to accompany me straight to the door of the hospital wing? After all, I am a grown man, and I'm sure you'd rather be spending this delightful Sunday morning catching up on beauty sleep. Not that you need it. You're as beautiful as the sun." I was probably laying it on a bit thick with my inane rambling. Hopefully it would still work.

"Sirius cut the Hippogriff poop. If you're worried about me seeing Remus, I already know about his 'condition'," she said putting speech marks on either side of her head. "He asked Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the year for permission to tell me, as he knew I would figure out why he skipped prefect duties once a month," she continued talking while trying to ignore the expression on my face. She was doing a good job at it; as my mouth hung open in shock.

"You…you… know?" I managed to mumble, hopefully not too incoherently.

"Of course I know. At first, I thought it was just an illness. But last year, when his monthly disappearances became too regular, I figured it out. I didn't say anything, because I knew that if Remus wanted to tell me, he would have."

"And you're not afraid, and you didn't tell anyone?" I questioned, wanting to be sure where her allegiance lay.

"Of course I'm not afraid. I know he's perfectly safe the remaining twenty-seven days. Besides, I was brought up by a muggle family, without all the werewolf prejudice. I just used to think of werewolves as things that belonged in horror books." She replied looking, unperturbed.

"Sorry I accused Lily," I said. "It's just you can imagine what most people's reactions would be – to run away screaming to all the passers-by what he was."

"No, I understand you have to protect your friends. Like I do for Thalia…" Lily started saying before cutting herself off suddenly.

"Like you do what for Thalia?" I questioned. I guessed yesterday that something was up with her, and the rumour's I had heard about her mother, and her father's rather suspicious death.

"Oh nothing. Just forget I mentioned it." Lily brushed aside my comment and opened the door to the hospital wing. "Come on then, Black. Let's restore your beauty and visit Remus." She promptly walked into the room, and engaged herself in conversation with Madam Pomfrey.

Sensing the topic was closed for the foreseeable future, I followed her in, and the door of the hospital wing slammed shut behind us.

By Monday morning my face had fully healed, and my body was no longer aching in pain. To mine, James's and Peter's delight Remus was back among us. We could not see a single scratch or bruise on his body, thanks to Madam Pomfrey's magnificent healing skills.

When we got down to the common room, there was a crowd by the notice board. I pushed through the hubbub of people, and found the source of the commotion.

"Yes!" I shouted back to James. "There's a Hogsmeade trip on Halloween!" This was perfect! We could go to Zonko's, and buy all the things we would need for our evening of pranking.

"Yay!" James yelled back, and started jumping up and down, resembling a three year old. Sometimes, when he did things like this, I worried about his mental state.

We chatted animatedly about what we would buy all the way down to the Great Hall. James suddenly stopped talking when we entered the room, and scoured his eyes up and down the Gryffindor table. Then he sauntered over to his target sitting at the northern end of the table.

No need to guess who it was. Lily Evans who had the Daily Prophet propped up by a flask of pumpkin juice and was enjoying her egg soldiers in peace, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

To be fair, I didn't know what James was up to either.

I prepared myself for whatever mess James was about to create, since I'd have to help clean it up.

"Lily, the sweetest flower of them all! Will you do me the honour of accompanying me to Hogsmeade?" James said while getting down on his knee. What on earth was he doing? It looked like he was proposing!

"Potter, what did I say last time? Never in a million years, I said. Did I not make that clear enough for you?" Lily looked outraged at the mere idea of spending an entire day with James. "Besides, I have a date already."

"But, who?" James replied looking utterly devastated.

"Will Cavendish," she replied curtly.

I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. No offence to James, but he had no hope against that boy – he's a sixth year Ravenclaw, a prefect and quidditch captain. He also got top grades in every subject, and was well liked by everyone, including the teachers. Basically, Will Cavendish was the perfect person for someone like Lily.

James seemed to have been having the same thoughts as me, as he got up and walked to the other end of the table, where Remus and Peter were sitting. For the next half hour, he seemed to compensate for his emotional distress, by wolfing down every bit of food in reach. None of us knew what to say, so we had the rare event of a silent breakfast.

Luckily, by the time we made our way to the dungeons for double Potions, James had perked up enough to start cracking jokes.

"Shame about Evans turning me down, mate. Otherwise, you could've asked Longwood and we could've gone on a double date together." James sniggered about the fact he could get rid of his own embarrassment by embarrassing me.

"Hahaha, very funny." I shot back. "What was that about the story with you and that veela?" I was glad Thalia had given me ammunition against him, and it had worked. James immediately stopped talking, and resumed the same silence from breakfast.

"Hey, what's been going on with Padfoot and Longwood?" Peter questioned.

"Don't you worry your little head about it," I replied trying to sound patronising. "It's just James being a git like usual." I wanted Peter to drop the subject because I didn't want to explain what had happened to anyone else.

Peter lapsed into silence, unable to muster a response to my jibe. Remus had a knowing look on his face, and shot a quick wink at me. He always had a way of analysing the situation and figuring out what was actually going on..

The rest of the morning passed by like a death march. It didn't help much that I had Potions and History of Magic in the same day, and they were possibly the worst lessons in the school. At least I had Care of Magical Creatures last, so I could use the time to get to know Anna better. After lunch, Remus was off to Arithmancy, and Peter headed up to Divination. James and I bid farewell to them and headed across the grounds to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

The class stood around chatting for a few minutes, before old Professor Kettleburn hobbled towards us. It was rumoured that the reason for his limp was that he got in fight with a vampire. Instead of going for his neck the vampire went for the leg. Luckily, that meant he remained a human, albeit one with a bit of leg gouged out.

"Err, today we will be looking at err….oh that's it. Bowtruckles." Professor Kettleburn was a nice person, but he tended to forget what he was saying half the time. "Now divide yourself into twos or threes, and follow me to the forest. Now, now, Miss Kerr don't look so worried. We're just going to the edge of the forest, so we can find the trees with magical properties."

James and I immediately followed him into the forest, no question that we wouldn't go together. I know I should have used that time to get to know Anna, but I thought it might have seemed a bit strange to go in partners with someone I had barely spoken to since last year. I tried to look for her, but it was to no avail, because the area of the forest we were currently was so thick in foliage, it was hard to see that much ahead of you.

"Er, now, erm… who can tell me what you should feed Bowtruckles, to tempt them out of their trees? Ah, yes. Miss Whitby." Professor Kettleburn said sounding surprised that someone was actually listening to him.

"Wood lice or fairy eggs sir," Miss Whitby answered. I snapped my head in her direction. That was Anna. I knew I remembered her as being intelligent, and I saw that she looked proud of the fact that she knew the answer. I suppose that Hufflepuffs were always pleased with some form of achievement. Shut up, Sirius, you might be abusing your possible future girlfriend here.

James gave me a weird look. Oh damn, I really should stop having these mental conversations with myself. My mouth has a habit of moving almost like I was making the movements of the words I was thinking.

"Correct. Five points for that. Right. Now I have some wood lice here. We're going to use them in an attempt to draw the Bowtruckles out, so we can sketch them. You'll have to finish it for homework, so try and do as much as possible now, as drawing them from memory isn't an easy job." Kettleburn's instructions were followed by a very audible moan from the class. He rarely gave us homework.

James grabbed a bucket of wood lice, and headed for the tree nearest to us. He beckoned me to follow, but I had a better idea.

"Err, sorry Whitby, but could you possibly help me with getting the Bowtruckles out of the tree, as I didn't fully understand the concept of it?" I said, feigning stupidity when of course I knew how. I didn't get an O in my end of year test for nothing.

"Yeah sure, and call me Anna," she replied, flashing a smile in my direction. See? Smart, and she had a nice smile.

"Yeah, call me Sirius." I shot a smile back at her.

We spent the rest of the lesson chatting happily away, while James' occasional looks of annoyance slightly tinged the good mood I was in.

At the end of the lesson I was confronted by an angry James.

"What the Merlin was up with that?" he questioned me. "Since when were you and Whitby friends?"

"Look, she's a nice person, and I need a date for the Hogsmeade trip," I said.

"Why not take Longwood? You guys have been getting along very well recently."

Trying to think of an answer, I set off for the castle with James following in my wake.

"Maybe I just fancied dating a Hufflepuff right now," I said.

"Come on now, Sirius. I've seen you do this before. Anna's the kind of girl you use for distraction." James tried a bad impression of my trademark smirk. "My real question is, what's she distracting you from?"

I guess I would have to admit the real reason then. Either way, James would eventually get it out of me, and I would rather it be pain free.

"You're right about Thalia. Ever since that day in the library, she stuck in my mind." I heard a snicker next to me and stuck my elbow in his ribs. "Stop laughing, James. I know it's cliché, but there's something intriguing about her, that's all. I just don't want to ruin it with her, like I do with everything else." I hadn't even realised that I meant half the stuff I had just said, until I finished saying it.

"If you want my advice mate, don't bother hanging around like I'm doing with Lily. You actually stand a chance with Thalia. Just ask her to Hogsmeade." James said encouraging me along.

I had to give him a point there. This ridiculous thing between him and Lily had been going on for far too long. Maybe I should ask Thalia. Even if she said no, I could pretend it was a joke or a dare. James and I were always doing things like that, so I'm sure she'd believe it. Who, after all, could resist the charms of Sirius Black?

"Thanks James. Who would have thought, I'd take dating advice from someone who's been chasing the same girl for four years?" I said laughing.

"Glad, I could help you mate… Hey, where are you going?" he said in the distance, as I had started run off to the castle.

"Library. She usually stops by there before dinner. Meet me there later, and I'll tell you how it goes," I shouted over my shoulder.

I slowed my pace down, as I neared the library. Madam Pince didn't tolerate running in her sacred space. As I entered the library, I went row by row scanning my eyes down the many aisles, hoping to catch a glimpse of her chocolate brown curls.

A flick of brown in my eyes, and I stopped. I gazed down the aisle, but Thalia was talking to someone, so I decided to wait. I didn't want an audience.

"Yeah, that'll be great George. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at ten, right?" she said.

Which George was she talking to, and why was she meeting him? I tried to snap out of the worried sensation I was getting. It was too unfamiliar for me. This kind of stuff was reserved for James, who had been in love with the same girl for four years, so it wasn't too weird for him.

"That's right, I'm already looking forward to it," this George replied. It was George Wood, the Gryffindor quidditch captain.

"Me too. As long as we don't go to Madam Puddifoot's, it will be great," she joked. I knew Thalia was friends with him, but I didn't realise that they were that close.

"Don't worry, we can save that for next time," George joked back.

Downtrodden, I quickly headed out of the library and down to the Great Hall, not even waiting for James. I just needed to get away from both of them. Instead of heading for the Gryffindor table, I walked towards the Hufflepuff table instead.

"Hey, Anna. I know we don't really know each other that well, but I did like talking to you today. So I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me." It all came out in a rush, and I prayed she wouldn't say no. I'd already faced one rejection today. I know I didn't get around asking Thalia, but it felt like a rejection anyway.

"Er, yeah. Sure, that'd be great Sirius," Anna replied with a beaming smile.

"Good." I said, more relieved than I expected to be. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at ten thirty." I deliberately said, so I could avoid seeing Thalia and George together.

"Yeah that's fine, I'll look forward to it."

"Me too," I replied, glad I'd bagged a date. I headed back to the Gryffindor table to face the wrath of James for not getting Thalia as a date.

This was not going to be fun.

**Author Note: A big thank you again to pixileanin, as she's an amazing beta! Sorry I had to crush your dreams on Thalia and Sirius getting together, but it's all for the sake of the story, so hopefully you'll like how it turns out! If you want to be lovely you can leave a review, and thanks again for reading!**


	7. Hallowe'en

**Thalia**

"Get up, Thalia! We have so much to do. What are you going to wear? How are you going to do your hair?"

I was awakened bright and early by an eager Lily. It was too early for a Saturday, Hogsmeade trip or not, and I wanted a few more hours of sleep. I had just planned on throwing on a pair of jeans and a jumper, as it was supposed to be cold later on.

Of course Lily, and Maia, who had also been awakened by Lily's shouting, were both great fans of makeovers, and weren't planning on letting me get away that easily. They forced me into the shower and threw different potions over the door. They then covered my face in makeup. And after all that, I was forced into a skirt (with tights luckily) and a fitted jumper. This was not the look I was originally going for.

Thank Merlin they left my hair down, and not forced hadn't forced it into an intricate up-style. To be fair, there wasn't much to be done with curls. For once, I was glad about my hair. At least it meant I kept one piece of my appearance natural.

While I was being plucked and pampered, I pondered over the curiosity of Sirius Black. Ever since that thing in the library, he seemed to have been ignoring me. I mean, I didn't suddenly expect him to be professing his love for me; we didn't even kiss after all.

But I couldn't comprehend this silence. We were finally able to hold civil conversations with one another, which was a rather nice change. I didn't want our relationship to return to the constant arguments of the previous years.

Oh well. I decided not to waste my time thinking about someone who obviously only cared about his ego. George Wood was a much nicer person, someone worth thinking about. I was slightly shocked when he asked me to Hogsmeade but Lily wasn't. I got what her side comments were about now, and that wink she gave me.

After Maia helped Lily pick an outfit for her date with Will Cavendish, Mary and Alice had finally woken. Once they were dressed, we all headed down to breakfast. To tell the truth, this was my first proper date. I know most people had been on plenty of dates by fifth year, but I was just always shy when it came to boys. I was too nervous to even eat anything. How was I supposed to even act today?

Maia offered me some words of comfort, "Don't worry, Thalia. If he didn't like who you are, he wouldn't have bothered asking you out. Just act like yourself and go with the flow."

Her words calmed me slightly, but I still approached the date with apprehension. Mary, Alice, and Maia were all dateless, so they decided to dedicate the day to trying on the latest robes in Gladrags. Lily and I bid them farewell while we waited in the Entrance Hall for our respective dates. We spent the next ten minutes waiting in silence, both too nervous to speak.

The moment George appeared, my nerves immediately calmed down. He looked good. His brown hair was swept back off his face, and his turquoise eyes lit up with happiness. He greeted me, and we set off out of the Entrance Hall.

Argus Filch, the new school caretaker, ticked our names off on his list with a bitter scowl. When we were out of earshot, George said to me in a low voice, "I bet he looks like that because he spends his spare time sucking on lemons." His joke seemed to have broken the silence between us. After that, we chatted away as we walked leisurely down into the village.

Deciding we were both in an urgent need of a sugar rush, we popped into Honeydukes to see which latest delicacies were on display. While George inquired about sending sugar quills in stock to his younger sister who wasn't at Hogwarts, I was poked in the back. I turned around to be greeted by the three mischievous faces of Mary, Maia and Alice.

"So how's the date going? Have you kissed yet?" Mary asked bluntly, cutting to the chase.

"It's going fine, thank you very much. As for the second matter, no we have not. We are only thirty minutes into our first date." I tried my best to sound outraged at Mary's suggestion. "You're not getting me confused with Felicity Brown, are you?"

I could see her see just walking past Honeydukes with a fellow seventh year. She seemed to be heading towards the alleyway between Honeydukes and a dilapidated old house, which was a well-known place for couples to frequent if they wanted some private time.

"Of course Mary wasn't trying to insinuate that, were you now?" Alice replied using her sternest voice possible. It was funny to watch someone so little sound so scary.

"Yeah, yeah, don't pretend you didn't want to know as well. You were saying all the way down, "I wonder if he's going to kiss her, "I wonder if he's going to kiss her."" I was just speeding up the process, so we don't have to do all that subtle hinting back in the dorm later," Mary said, justifying her actions.

"Fine, I did say that," Alice shot back. "But I didn't want to be blunt and just burst out with it."

"Come on, guys," Maia interjected. "I'm sure Thalia will tell us every detail later. I saw the most amazing pair of robes in Gladrags, and I want to get them before someone horrible like Narcissa Black steals them first." Her words managed to stop Alice and Mary shooting glares at each other.

Mary put on a grim expression, "Fine. But I'm only coming as I need a new set of robes for the party tonight."

I'd almost forgotten about the party. It was being held in the Room of Requirement tonight by the Marauders. Most of the school from fifth year up had been invited, except the Slytherins.

As the three of them trudged out of the shop, George had finally finished his discussion with the owner, and headed towards me.

"Got everything sorted then?" I asked politely.

"Yeah. They had some spare boxes in the cellar, thank Merlin. Olivia really does love them," he said with smile. He and his sister sounded really close, the way he talked about her. His whole family sounded like they actually held conversations with each other, unlike my Mother and me.

"I'm feeling rather peckish. Do you fancy getting an early lunch?" I asked, despite it being only eleven thirty.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be great, The Three Broomsticks?" George asked.

"Where else would we go?" I said, smirking.

"I heard Madam Puddifoot's is great place for couples on a date," George replied jokingly.

"I thought we had cleared that up already, Mr Wood. Us going to Madam Puddifoot's equals us never talking again," I joked back.

"Not being able to enjoy your delightful presence is too much to ask. I guess I'll have to suffer the curse of The Three Broomsticks then." He replied.

"Come on, it won't be that bad. You're with me after all." Suddenly feeling a rare spurt of confidence, I grabbed hold of his hand and we set off for the pub still joking with one another.

We were so absorbed in our joking, that we didn't realise another couple trying to enter the door at the same time. When we bumped into them, I turned to see two deeply contrasting hair colours, one an almost platinum blonde, the other, a very familiar shade of black. That person also shared the same surname as his hair colour, Sirius Black, and if I was correct, the blonde was Anna Whitby.

"I'm ever so sorry….Longwood?" Black asked with a tone of confusion, and something else mixed in which I couldn't identify. I looked at his eyes, the familiar pool of grey in the hope of finding a clue or an answer, but it was too no avail.

"Ha! Don't worry, it was nothing," George joked merrily, ignoring the glares I was sending Black. I know he was obviously missing the death wishes I was sending mentally, but he did notice that my grip had tightened on his hand, and gave me an inquiring look.

"Yes, of course. Nothing's ever a problem if Black's in the equation," I spat out bitterly. I still hadn't forgiven him for him suddenly ignoring me. George and Anna seemed confused by my sudden hostility. I could understand though, considering I hadn't even told Lily about what had happened between me and Sirius. It wasn't that I didn't trust her; I was just never one to go blurting out about every single detail about my personal life.

"Nice assumptions you're making there, Longwood," Sirius replied, his voice laced with venom.

"You can't call them assumptions if they're true." Other people had begun to build up in front of the doors. Not wanting to start an argument in front of a crowd, I let go of George's hand and marched into the pub. Luckily, George followed and didn't mention anything about the scene.

Much to my surprise, George and I managed to enjoy the remainder of our date. We strolled peacefully back towards the castle, enjoying the last of the autumn sun.

"So are you going to this party tonight?" George asked.

"Yeah, probably. Maia wanted us all to go, so she might have a chance to talk to Remus. You are going as well, aren't you?" I asked hopefully.

"Who on earth would turn down a party hosted by the Marauders? Do you want to meet up and go together?" George's cheeks flushed slightly.

"Sure, how about we meet in the common room at eight?" I replied, coming to a halt at the large, imposing doors that led into the Entrance Hall. "How about we meet in the common room at eight?"

"Sounds great," George said. "And Thalia, I had a really nice time today. Thank you." He leaned in and swiftly pecked my cheek.

"No need to thank me. I genuinely had a really good time too." I replied happily. It was true I really did have a great time.

George joined his hand with mine, and we wandered back to the common room in a comfortable silence.

When I stepped through the dormitory door, I was greeted by three impatient girls, who had all been waiting to interrogate me about my date. They were rather impatient when I arrived, as Lily had come back about an hour earlier than I had, and they had already pestered her.

"So, did he finally kiss you?" Mary said jumping straight into the questioning.

"Yes, but only on the cheek. He also asked if I wanted to go to the party tonight with him, and I said yes." I had a massive smile plastered on my face.

"Aw, that's sweet. Does that mean Lily and I get to do another makeover?" Maia asked hopefully.

"No. I think I've had enough of makeovers for the time being. How was your date, Lils?" I asked, hoping she had a successful one as well.

"It was good," she said hesitantly. "It's just Will's a bit too perfect, you know? He doesn't seem to have any flaws, so you tend to feel inferior in his presence." Lily sounded a bit dismayed. "On the bright side, he seems to be keeping Potter away. Even though it's mean, I may keep him for a while, just so I can have some Potter free time."

"Ha, I guess there's always a silver lining." I looked at my watch and found it was already half past five. "Oh Merlin, look at the time. We have to hurry, or we'll miss dinner."

"Yes we'd better," Lily replied and stood up and headed towards the door. The rest of us trailed behind, still laughing at the fact Lily was finally free of Potter, albeit only temporarily.

The Great Hall was decked out in the usual Halloween decorations. The candles were a bewitching black instead of the usual ivory hue. Pumpkins sat every few metres or so on the tables, and the ghosts were trying their very best to scare people. The only ghost who was really succeeding was the Bloody Baron.

Luckily, we managed to find a place on the crowded Gryffindor table. I grabbed a slice of carrot cake and started eating it, glad I could finally enjoy something that was bad for me without my Mother's disapproving glare. I could almost hear her berating me in the back of my mind:

"Thalia, think of all that weight you could gain from that single slice! Do you think someone would want to marry you if you're fat? You can't become some lonely spinster. You have to marry well to succeed in life, and eating that won't help at all."

The only time she paid any interest in my life, was when she tried to shape me into becoming a lady of society like she was. I received lessons in proper etiquette, was forced into fancy dress robes that didn't allow much movement, and banned from reading books. According to Mother, men didn't want to have educated wives. Even though I tried not to listen to Mother's advice, I was still paranoid about ending up alone and as a spinster who has cats for company.

I'm surprised she married Father. He had always the one who encouraged me to read and explore the world, free from social and gender restrictions. I all Mother cared about was adding the name Longwood to her name, as it was connected with wealth and prestige. That was all my Mother cared about.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a sudden bang and the screams which followed. I scanned the room trying to find the source of the noise.

The giant pumpkin in the middle of the staff table had exploded, and to most people's horror, about fifty bats were swooping around the Great Hall.

Like she had with the prank on the first day, McGonagall quickly caught the perpetrators. She issued the ringleaders, Black and Potter, with detentions for two weeks. Pettigrew and Lupin managed to get away with only a stern telling off. If there was any trouble at the party later, I doubt McGonagall would be very pleased, and the punishments would most likely be a lot more severe.

After the spectacle we decided to get ready for the party. Alice and Maia were keen to get closer to Frank and Remus. Even though I declined their offer of a makeover, I still wanted to make an effort for George, as I didn't want to end up looking like a banshee.

For once, I enjoyed getting ready. Lily had brought her record player from home this year. Mary told us that she had one at home, as her Mum was a muggleborn. Lily put a large black disc inside and turned it on. She told us that we were listening to this band called The Beatles. The device greatly interested the rest of us, since we had never seen one before.

Mary and Lily were still grieving over the fact that the band had split up, despite that happening around six years ago. Mary had even tried charming her poster of them to get it to move like the magical ones, but it was to no avail and the four men remained stationary.

At eight o'clock, Maia, Alice and Mary went ahead to the party. I stayed in the common room and sank into an armchair in front of the fire, watching the flames flicker and dance while I waited for George. Lily gave me a small wave as she stepped through the Fat Lady's portrait, where she was meeting Will.

Then Mary suddenly rushed back up to the dormitory. About thirty seconds later, she quickly ran back down into the common room.

"Mary, what are you doing back here?" I asked.

"Oh, I left my wand in the dorm," she said a little breathless from the stairs. "I hate being without it, especially now with the threat of Death Eaters around. I thought it'd be best to come back and get it."

"Fair enough. See you at the party," I said, as Mary headed back towards the Fat Lady.

As soon as she slipped through the portrait, George descended the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late. I just got back my dorm to find that some idiot had ransacked my trunk. I had to go and put everything back in order. I hope you didn't mind waiting," he said with a smile.

"It was no problem; I've only been waiting a few minutes. Shall we go?" I asked offering my hand to him.

"Let's." He took hold of my hand as we walked out of the portrait hole.

As soon as we stepped out, I heard a blood curdling scream from ahead of us. I let go of George's hand and ran down the corridor. As soon as I rounded the corner, I almost let out a scream myself.

Mary was on the floor, surrounded by what seemed to be a pool of her blood. I froze in shock unsure of what to do. Should I seek help? Or perhaps try and heal the wounds myself? Judging by the amount of blood which had amassed around her, I knew whatever spell was cast on her had caused deep, ugly wounds.

I heard footsteps quickly approaching, and to my great relief it was George.

"What happened….oh Merlin!" George sounded equally as shocked and as scared as I felt, "We need to do something quickly. I'll stay with her and you go look for help, ok?" I nodded and quickly set off down the corridor in the direction of the party, as I guessed I would more likely find help there, than in the deserted common room I just left.

I saw a silhouette ahead and started shouting in the hope of capturing their attention.

"Help, help me please! Someone's been seriously wounded!" I desperately hoped they would respond to my pleas.

"Thalia? What is it?" I heard Remus Lupin reply as he ran up to me.

"It's Mary. George and I just found her lying in the corridor in a pool of blood. We don't know what to do. Please, just come," I said, my voice louder and more desperate as I continued speaking.

"Remus? Longwood? What's going on?" James Potter appeared from the shadows.

Not another person I have to explain to, I thought, Mary's in urgent need of help. Luckily Remus was thinking the same.

"Not enough time to explain. Look I'll get Madam Pomfrey. You and James go back to Mary and try not to let her lose more blood." Remus immediately shot off in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

"Thalia, what's happened?" James asked worriedly, as we hurried back to where I found Mary.

"I don't know, I was just going to the party with George, and then we heard a scream. So I ran ahead, and found Mary on the floor with blood around her. It's just so awful, why Mary?" I suddenly burst into tears, as I had finally given up on repressing them.

"Hey, Mary will be alright. Trust me. Madam Pomfrey can work miracles, and I'll make sure that they catch the person who did this." James pulled me into a reassuring hug.

"Thanks," I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. "It's just hard to think that now."

By the time we got back to Mary and George, Remus had returned, and was not only accompanied by Madam Pomfrey, but also by Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore. Dumbledore was in the process of levitating Mary onto a conjured stretcher.

"Take her straight to the Hospital Wing, Poppy. She'll need urgent care," Dumbledore said. Madam Pomfrey immediately headed off in that direction, with the stretcher following in her wake.

"Do you think she'll recover, Albus?" McGonagall asked tentatively.

"Yes, I think she will. However, due to it being cast by dark magic I wouldn't be surprised if she was left with some scarring." Dumbledore's tone was grave. "Thank you though Wood, Potter, Longwood and Lupin. Without your quick action she may have not been saved." With a curt nod to us he departed in the direction of the Hospital Wing.


End file.
